Back to (Meat) School: fall classes at Smoking Goose

Whole Hog Butchering 

Thursday, August 28, 6-8:30pm 
Meaty snacks and libations will be served!

Get behind the butcher's table as we go from nose to tail.

Together the class will break down a whole hog by hand through traditional, seam butchery techniques. Participants can take home a prime selection of the pork we'll be butchering that evening. Dress the part as we'll provide a your butcher's uniform including a Smoking Goose butcher's hat for you to take home along with your porcine treats!

Reservations required: $150 per person includes a hearty spread of snacks & drinks plus lots of fresh pork and a butcher's hat to take home.

Sausage Making 

Thursday, September 18, 6-8:30pm

Meaty snacks and libations will be served! 

The Smoking Goose team is dishing the butcher's secrets to sausage making and helping participants make their own sausage from start to finish. Together we'll butcher, grind, spice, mix, stuff, and smoke old-school, handmade encased meat treats. Dress the part as we'll provide your butcher's uniform, and take home sausages we make during class!

Reservations required: $120 per person includes a hearty spread of snacks & drinks plus lots of sausage and a butcher's hat to take home

How to register: Call 317-638-MEAT (6328) to get on the list or give registration as a gift!

The fine print: $50 deposit per participant is due at registration. This nonrefundable & nonexchangeable deposit will be applied to the total class cost which is due no later than 24 hours prior to the class.

Plans change? While the registration deposit is nonrefundable & cannot be applied to a different class, please let us know as soon as possible if you cannot attend the class so that the balance will not be charged to your card: 317-638-MEAT (6328).

Meat Minuteman: a volunteer spotlight

Bruce and Smoking Goose first saw each other from across a crowded room…literally. From behind his pint at Flat12 Bierwerks across the street, Bruce saw the flocks gathering here on our opening night almost three years ago.

He checked out Smoking Goose’s Dorman St. Meat Locker, signed up for our Whole Hog Butchering Class, and loved the Bacon of the Month Club membership that his wife gave him. “Bacon was my gateway meat,” Bruce reveals. “But then I got this charcuterie book about all kinds of meats.” He was hungry—in more ways than one—to learn more about making meat magic.

When Smoking Goose started the Meat Minutemen (and Women!) Program, Bruce was on the list in less than a minute. He knew it’d be a chance to get behind-the-scenes for some hands-on experience side by side with our butchers. “I had never realized how much working by hand goes into your products,” he says. “It’s really labor intensive, but, man, the results are delicious.”

Although Meat Minutemen and Women can choose how often they’d like to volunteer—from once in a lifetime to once in a while—Bruce’s interest in producing all-natural, handcrafted meat treats has made him a regular. He suits up once a week as a Smoking Goose butcher to work in the Raw Room where all our recipes start.

Smoking Goose production manager Ryan says the whole staff looks forward to Bruce’s day “in the cube” (Goose lingo for our USDA-inspected production space). “He’s really helpful and a hard worker,” says Ryan. “Plus he’s so interested in learning and is always in a good mood. He’s inspiring.”

And while Bruce’s good spirit and passion for protein has been an inspiration for the Smoking Goose team, Bruce also gets to take home a little (dinner) inspiration. “It’s hard to pick a favorite, but I usually go with some of the sausages,” he says after pondering over the Smoking Goose meat treats he gets “paid” with after each of his Meat Minuteman shifts.

From all of us at Smoking Goose, thanks for being part of our team, Bruce!